Sunday, January 31, 2010

Silver Blue Bengal Love....

He looks like Venus!!!!!

Back from my cross state road trip, rescuing Bubba Kalahari, which was where we met to do the hand off, his former foster and I. Bubba is safe now, and settling in with Woodsman Hans, who has made up his spare room for Bubba and turned it into Kitty Heavan.

Bubba is a LOVER, really sweet. He did a LOT of talking and was very serious about it on the way home. I opened his carrier and started petting him, which seemed to help. He is a BENGAL, for all he is cuddly. When we got him home, he stalked his room, and then settled down to some serious head butting (Bengal for PET ME NOW THAT'S WHAT YOU ARE HERE FOR) he has steak, cat treats, wet food, and dry food. And a tunnel, toys and cat tree. Two beds, and another Kitty to play with thru the door. It's hoped that in time, they will be friends. He wants to be.

He did try a Spray when I was in with him, but I distracted, and calmed him, and he stopped. Tomorrow we get more things for him. This Kitty is going to be just fine. He is front de-clawed, and his tail has an odd kink, as if it had been slammed in something then healed. Both of which are traumatic events for a kitty. And may have started his problems.

Hans and I both agree, no more prozac for him. He needs a lot of things, calming, security, love, the right people and enviorment. He is reacting NORMALLY for a kitty who has been thru the things he has been thru. I don't dispute there may be instances where this is the only thing to do, I really don't know. But, as a last resort. I think we can fix him without drugs.

Finally, A couple months ago I commissioned Kelli Bickman to do a painting for me of all five of my Bengals. I said I saw them in a tree, and I sent pictures, tho she has seen them, and little stories about each of them. She sent me back the picture in my mind. Kelli gets it. And she loves doing pet paintings. I have loved her work for years, and own one other painting of hers. Boss has a huge mural in his bedroom that I never get tired of looking at.

I love her eye. I love the things she sees. I love the way she can paint them.

I love it that all of my Bengals are in a tree together, with the moon and bats in the background.

And I love it that I could drive 7 hours today to save Bubba and give him a chance at living his life as he was meant to.

Found out today that my mom knows someone who took her cat to be put down for peeing, but got talked into giving kitty prozac instead. It makes me furious. Let's think, now: kitty spends all her time shut away in a small room, with no company. If they let her out, the dog (which has some serious behavioral issues) tries to eat it. Yeah, I'd be peeing everywhere, too. You have a cat again, why? Geez.

Owner can't be talked into re-homing kitty. Owner's mother wants badly to take kitty, but her husband refuses. I have told my mom to tell them to contact me the minute there's any thought of putting the cat down again. Not that I know whether I can actually take another cat. Got rooms, but they're both being renovated, so it'd have to be a throw-them-together situation. :/

Beez, no that's Magic, from a photo Nathilie took, he is still WILD, and has that look. Lear is on the branch to the left, below Little Queen Mab, he should have been bigger, but kind of like him that way.

Still working thru the whole Jess is a imelord and so is Fiend in Law. Ok, I can deal. I was thinking the whole Dr Who thing was fiction, but obviously I didn't GET it. Do now.

Do you guys think I would be selling out by working at a private or charter school instead of a public school? So far, the public schools have got me down. The curriculum is behind what I think it should be, and I think it would be hard to work in a system where I was the only person who cared about the students.

the important bit is that you make a difference, doesn't matter what the school is called. all kids need inspiration, and if you can do better in a charter or private school, that's not selling out. improving minds is the important thing. other people's opinions are secondary to your satisfaction. and if anyone says you are selling out, then they need to remove head from arse.

I am so thankful that Lorraine and Hans stepped up to help pretty blue boy Bubba. I am also very hopeful he can be helped using behavior techniques. However, I have a boy that wasn't able to be helped that way and is on prozac. While medicating cats for behavior problems seems drastic the medication in no way changed my Mo at all except stopped his peeing. He has been on it for 2 1/2 years and in that time the only time he peed inappropriately was when he developed crytals a few months ago, once treated he has been fine. I do understand how frustrated owner's can be with the behavior, we had to tear up carpeting, throw away furniture, etc. It also caused problem between my husband and I, with me covering up problems if I could. I don't mean to write a book here, it is just that sometimes it is ok to use medication if all else has failed. There are no known side effects, my Vet has had cats on prozac for 14 years with no problems. The current issue of Cat Fancy has a Veterinarian suggesting prozac for marking when other things don't work.

Lorraine is a miracle worker with cats, I hope Bubba is another notch in her SUPER belt!

Wendy - FWIW - I am a fan of making public schools the best they can be, or helping students within your ability to do so. Many private and charter schools pay less than public. And I know some states' curricula are behind others in the country, but Florida has one of the most advanced and organized sets of standards, so most states will likely seem behind by comparison.

I've been looking into charter and private schools in addition to public schools, and right now there's a specific private school that's winning. They give out more than a million dollars each year in scholarship money to needy students and work with local public and charter schools for lectures and activities with experts they bring in. They also have a large diversity program and bring in politic activists to speak to their students.

http://www.mpcds.com/Default.asp?bhcp=1

I'm going to see if I can take a tour of it and interview a teacher there next week.

Wendy - Ben goes to private school and there are 2 kids in his class that used to go to public kindergarten and were "kicked out" due to behavior issues...in kindergarten! Anyway, my point is, the teachers in ben's class are amazing and have gotten these kids to blossom. Private or public, it's how you connect with the kids and make them grow in amazing ways.

I LOVE the bengal painting. I just donated to Molly Crabapple today and commissioned a Gorey-esque pinup picture of myself for hubby! So excited! I've never commissioned a picture like that before :)

Bubba kitty is handsome and indeed looks like Venus (minus the green eyes, possibly?) I am sure that well loved he will recover from all that trauma (I can't get over from the fact that he was declawed. Poor little mite).

We said goodbye to Calvin today. His cancer came back with a vengeance and we decided it was time to let him be at rest. It was a easy decision but OMG one of the hardest things I've ever done.

He still knew us, still wanted to be petted and held and we heard a couple of tiny purrs as we said good-bye. It was the right thing to do at the right moment. Until last week we really had our wonderful cat back for over 2 months.

Out to the snow now to bury him with his favorite toys in our cat cemetery.

Jane and Steve - I am so sorry for your loss. Calvin had a good family, and I know you made the best decisions you could for him, up to the very end. I'm glad you could be together and that he felt up to saying goodbye. Love to you and Steve.

Jane, I'm sorry, damn it is too soon for tears again. I'm so glad you were able to say goodby. Calvin was the aby right? He will be playing with my aby Star, bet she bosses him around, it was her thing, all tiny 5 pounds of her.

Today I was definitely not prepared for the students. I simply did not have a class management plan for students who refused to listen to me, refused to sit down, refused to not walk around the class, refused to not scream and shout in the classroom, and refused to not bite, kick, molest, and scratch each other. When school administrators came to calm the class down, the class pretty much scoffed at them. The administrators did nothing.

In hindsight, I should have called a resource officer. Next time something like that happens, I will.

Yes Sally - I am Sharon and Jane and Qitou. If I had realized how attached I would become to you all I would have started out as Sharon, but who knew.

Steve is having a beer in honor of Calvin, who absolutely would pull the hand holding the beer glass down to his face and drink out of it, until the day he accidentally took it nasally and then he was finished. Made it easier to drink a beer in the house, though, after he was over it :-)

A nap and some fried mushrooms have made things better. And, I'm watching Leverage, which tends to make things better.

On a happier note, Friday I get to work at a high school I worked at and liked last Thursday. It was the one school I've worked at so far with a teacher's aide who actually liked the students and wants to help them. She's going to school to become a school counselor, and I think she's in her 40s or 50s (I'm really bad with ages).

The class sizes were a lot smaller, and the students flowed with things a lot better, like being locked out of their classroom for more than an hour and then being locked out of another classroom for 10 minutes. Then having only a small worksheet to work on for an hour and a half long class. They mostly text messaged their friends and talked quietly amongst themselves.

It's probably also the difference between high schoolers and the middle schoolers I had today. Even with a lesson plan and movies to watch, the middle schoolers were uncontrollable.

Oh, also I'm touring the Jewish Day School on Thursday!!!!! I'm very excited! And, I'm going to call that super school tomorrow and see if I can get in for class observations and talk to a teacher.

I've got Wendy, Wendy-Lou, Wendell, Wendy-Moira-Angela-Darling, and Wen. My internet name used to be Howlokitty (when I had pink hair and did modeling) but I stopped using it because people would come up to me in the street and ask if I was Howlokitty. I wonder how internet famous I would be now if I'd kept it up. I wanted to be the next Jeffree Star, without the music. I am also called "Oh No, a Wendygo" by one person. That was my Myspace name after I gave up on Howlokitty for everything. Actually, I think two or three people I used to work may still call me ONaW.

Way to turn things around, Wendy. I'd still be in a quivering heap after a day like yours. Or possibly in a padded room. Seriously, I admire teachers to no end. Such an incredibly tough job. People who really care are so important. I hope you can soon find a place where your caring will be appreciated.

Fly-by comment before all hell breaks loose in Lorraine's work world (and while I'm on my lunch break):

Bubba is utterly gorgeous. Thank fods I am too far away to be seduced into Bengal ownership. :) (Well, that and my lease only permits me one cat, and I already have Miro, the bossy little Aby.)

Lorraine, not only are you saving these beautiful creatures, but you are educating us. About Bengals. About cat behaviour. About understanding and helping them. Too cool!

Jane/Sharon, my heart goes out to you, e kare. Aroha mai.

Wendy, it sounds like it's all coming together for you. The super school sounds fantastic, and the outreach work you described sounds like a...well, compromise isn't really the right word, but you get to be involved in both worlds, while being based somewhere you feel you can do your best work.

*waves at all the other fiends*

And as for multiple names, there's nothing like spending a weekend being referred to as aunty or whaea (mother) by people younger than you, and bubs or kare (kind of like "dear") by people older than you because no-one can remember your name. *shrugs* Oh well - it's better than when I was called that Pakeha (white) girl. It's not my fault I got all the short, white, wide genes instead fo the tall, brown, skinny ones!

Now I'm excited, because I found a community garden. If I pay $10 a month and work a few hours a week, I'll get a big basket of produce and eggs every week. That would really cut down on food expenses, and I'd have fun!

Aleta - Holy crap. 8( The site is being buggy, so I can't see the details-- there were no injuries, I hope.

Wendy - Yikes. Hang in there.

Sharon - I like a beer-based tribute. :) Mr. Jess once knew a cat which would attempt to forceably remove mints from people's mouths, given the opportunity. "They drove him mental," is how he puts it.

Speaking of things which drive cats mental, I bought a couple of catnip quilts from Stacy. They are beautiful, and deary me I hope I can keep them that way. Ally in particular went bonkers, rolling around with her quilt, biting it, and making with the kicky feet. I need to get pictures.

Funny thing: I have never had more than one name. I am Jess. Or Jessica. But mostly Jess. Which I think is why I feel funny not using people's real names when I meet them, or talk to them on the phone.

Wendy, I believe you are a whirlwind! Awesome to find a community garden. Best wishes with whatever job you connect with.

I have many names, too, depending on who and when. Y'all know Na and Na Bean. Drummer friends called me Granada and then Pomegranate. I was Pippi when I wore braids a lot; Ripley when I shaved my head. Lots of mistakes; a favorite is Venarta. And as a kid my peers came up with ugly ones, and I dreamt of changing my name to Samantha, as in Bewitched.

I've had several other names over my life...there is one that only my dad and eldest brother are allowed to call me, so I'm not telling. Its my very favorite nickname.

Of course I get the diminutive Sal, Super Sally, Silly Sally etc.My nickname for a while at school was Imp (small and mischevious) then changed to Pengy because someone thought I walked like a penguin - hence the ltlpengy name I also use.

Ohhh, and at primary school my brothers and I were all called Coogie Bear (spelling?) after the character on the Rolf Harris show because it sort of rhymed with our surname.

Sharon....oh, my dear. {{you and yours}} Words fail to convey my sympathy and sorrow at your loss. Or my immense respect for your bravery and honourable behavior. Doing the right thing is so hard, but you did it.

Love to you and your family....I will think of Calvin often with a beer close at hand, now that he can drink whenever he wants and never get it up his nose....

Please don't say you weren't warned. And if you clicked without reading further, well, you get what you deserve, and you'd better hope there's some wibbly wobbly timey wimey stuff to help you regenerate!

There were lots of people in my mum's family who were known by odd names: I have no idea what Catface & Dogface's real names were (two of my mother's maiden aunts; she went to stay with them when she was studying for her exams, aged about 15. They taught her how to play poker & mix cocktails - no idae at all whether she also got any studying done)

I'm Helen really, but tend to be Hellie/Hels to my friends, H to my brother. One particular friend always calls me Lenny, and someone I work with insists on calling me Alanis.

I love the painting, so vibrant, & she has really captured all their Bengally essences! Which room is it going to hang in?

Jane, so sorry to hear about Calvin, such a hard decision for you. I hope all your happy memories of him are a comfort to you, I'm sure you'll never drink a beer without smiling.

Jess I think there will be a queue forming to have a ride in your tardis! Oh hang on, we'll all be able to fit in together (bigger on the inside!), where shall we go? Went to a gig the other night and spent most it getting distracted by wondering if the guy in front of me was the 11th Doctor. Had to go up to him afterwards to tell him how much he looked like him! If it had been the 10th Dr, I fear I would still be following him around... ;)

OMG Amanda Palmer on the red carpet again, I can't wait. I think she is wonderful.

Thanks for all your words about Calvin - yes, he was a beer stealer! I have a photo of him standing on his back legs, front paws wrapped around a beer bottle (Steve is holding it) looking like a baby drinking from a bottle. So cute!

Kimberly, the photo of both Zs yawning is priceless!!! I think it belongs over at lolcats :-)

Chantrelle, that's totally what I told Amanda. I am not only completely willing to go in her stead, I promise not shave, possibly change on the red carpet and most certainly take a dead photo. :-)

I used to do the outdoor cat thing, but when one of them just never came home, who was a serious homebody and only 6 years old, we decided we weren't going to do the outdoor/indoor cat thing again. They are strictly indoor.

Oh Cecily, that's what happened to me - last year my 6 year old rescue disappeared. But I still couldn't make my cats indoor - they would Hate Me! (where I live there really aren't good enough reason's to keep them indoors)Anyway, so sorry to hear about your cat that disappeared.

PS I will under no circumstances offer to accompany boss on any public engagements (but will happily tag along to any behindthescenes stuff)

Grace, I grew up with one cat that was indoor/outdoor, and then into my adulthood I had several in/out cats. Then when I moved in with my current husband, we had lots of talks about him making his indoor cats in/out cats, I finally won, and then Gelly disappeared for ever. I kinda have a metric shit ton of guilt with the subject. Right now we have two young cats that have always been inside cats, and there is no way in hell I'm going to risk losing them.

I don't want to piss anyone off, but there are lots of reasons for cats to be indoor only, both for the health of the cat and the environmental consequences of having subsidized predators roaming freely. Outdoor cats kill huge numbers of songbirds and amphibians, both groups that are having all kinds of problems.

Cacily and Phiala, I totally understand where you are coming from (I don't get pissed off easily lol), and I think there are even some breeds like Ragdoll that are meant to be indoor, plus some cats prefer to be indoor cats. Also, for people who live in very busy/traffic areas, it makes sense to limit the cats access to outdoors.

I am also always racked with guilt re: bird and amphibian issue (and even ity bity rodents) as well as rabbits (oh yes, my cats catch those too), but on the other hand, I feel, if you have a live being whose nature it is to hunt, than you have to deal with that without limiting that creature's quality of life. It's just my personal opinion on the matter.

Personally, I see cats as free spirits who choose to stay with me (human) and if they choose to leave, then I respect that (even if that means they end up losing their life - it's their life to lose, after all). I realise my attitudes about this can be a bit controversial, but then some people think it's perfectly acceptable to de-claw their cats for the sake of the furniture..)

When we got Calvin and Hobbes almost 17 years ago we decided to have only indoor cats. Too many bad things happen to outdoor cats, and we're risk averse. It doesn't keep them safe from everything, obviously, but they won't get eaten by a predator and they won't get hit by a car, among other things.